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It is an interesting kinetic relationship you seem to propose, that a mere shift of balance could solve many problems. I suspect that is only one dimension of economics, and the table is not as flat as some people suppose. If that is true, there should be some way to serve advantages economically, but the result may be to serve the upper classes unless there is a strong element of trickle-down industries or public austerity. And of course it shouldn't be merely a trick of words to make something operate. But I think ultimately there is a trend towards stable conceptual currency. If we ever encounter an alien race, they may think thoughts are money or conversely that economics is a simple engineering problem always solved in broad daylight.

The topic is interesting but the data are not correct. At the end of 2011, according to Eurostat, among Mediterranean countries only Italy (168 pct) had a household net financial assets ratio to GDP significately higher than Germany (122) and also France (135). On the contrary, the so called PIGS had lower ratios: Greece (only 47!), Spain (73), Ireland (75), Portugal (123). These data demonstrate two things. First: Greece, Spain and Ireland can't utilize private wealth to reduce public debt. Second, it's time to utilize not only the public debt-GDP ratio to evaluate the financial sustainability of a nation, but also the public debt-private wealth ratio or a combination of the two. In these case, analysts and also financial market will discover that the public debt/private wealth of Italy is quite similar to Germany's and France'. In other words the Italian public debt is actually sustainable if it would not penalized by irrealistic interest rates. In 2011 Italy had a problem of political credibility that professor Monti helped to resolve. But Italy never lost their good economic fundamentals. The Italian economy has 5 pillars: 1) a structural trade surplus in manufactured product (in 2012 it will be around 75 billion euro); and Italy is one of the only five G20 countries in surplus together with China, Japan, Germany and South Korea; 2) the lowest household liabilities to GDP ratio among advanced economies; 3) an high and well distributed household net financial wealth; 4) an high non financial private wealth (see for both these aspects the last Global Wealth Databook 2012 published by Credit Suisse); 5) a net international investment position to GDP ratio absolutely under control, similar to UK's and lower than US's. It's time that Nordic European countries and investors rebuild a little faith in Italy.

The high private wealth to GDP ratio in PIIGS is ironic. This indicates the root of the sovereign debt crisis - structural problem in economies.

Greece have been a heaven for riches, with millionaires having yachts and ferrari in Athens while they have a better-than-average welfare system. However, the productivity of the general public is not that high, compared to its neighbors like Germany.

Countries like Spain, suffer the same problem. They have the best corporations in the world like Zara, but they still suffer from massive unemployment.

The wealthy will certainly decline to help their countries by their private wealth. They will just leave given they are "penalized" by the higher tax rate. This is particularly true to Eurozone members.

So it's not practical to expect the people in the troubled countries to help.